Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2020 Annual Meeting of the APS Four Corners Section (Virtual)
Volume 65, Number 16
Friday–Saturday, October 23–24, 2020; Albuquerque, NM (Virtual)
Session N01: Plenary Talks IIILive
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Chair: David Dunlap, UNM |
Saturday, October 24, 2020 2:00PM - 2:35PM Live |
N01.00001: Single Molecule Electronics Invited Speaker: Stuart Lindsay Just how single molecules transport electrons has become clearer over the last two decades, though mysteries remain, particularly for transport in proteins. Molecular electronics, once touted as the route to the ultimate density of computer components, is still a long way from displacing silicon. However, entirely new applications that interface chemistry and electronics may be possible. For example, we are developing a single molecule DNA sequencer based on measuring the fluctuations in the conductance of a polymerase molecule as it copies a template DNA. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2020 2:35PM - 3:10PM Live |
N01.00002: High-Energy Density Hydrodynamics for Astrophysics and Fusion. Invited Speaker: Elizabeth Merritt High-energy-density (HED) science is the study of ionized material under extreme pressures (> 1 Mbar), which can alter the very atomic properties of matter. Many astrophysical systems are HED, from the interiors of gas giant planets to supernovae, and it is only with the modern development of large laser and pulsed power systems that scientists are able to create and study HED materials in the lab to gain insight into these phenomena. A fundamental question for understanding these systems is whether or not low-pressure, classical-hydrodynamic phenomena scale to high-pressure, high-density plasmas. This question is especially important in systems with significant hydrodynamic instability growth and turbulence, where mixing of materials can substantially change the temperature, pressure, and composition of the system. Prime examples of this phenomena are the dynamics of collapse and expansion of stars into supernovae and the quenching of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments by mixing cold material into the hot fuel. In this talk we present some background on HED science as well as discuss recent work on laser-based HED hydrodynamic instability-growth and turbulence studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2020 3:10PM - 3:45PM Live |
N01.00003: Search for Lepton Number Violation and Neutrino Nature with Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Invited Speaker: William Fairbank Despite nine decades of research on neutrinos, their fundamental nature remains a mystery. Two possibilities exist: (1) Dirac neutrinos, in which neutrinos and anti-neutrinos are different particles and (2) Majorana neutrinos, in which neutrinos and anti-neutrinos are the same particle. In the latter case, lepton number would have no meaning for neutrinos, and lepton-number nonconserving interactions could occur. One such process is neutrinoless double beta decay (0nbb), in which two electrons and no antineutrinos($\Delta$ L=2) are emitted. If 0nbb decay is discovered, then neutrinos must be Majorana. I will give an overview the leading experiments giving half-life limits for 0nbb decay of up to $10^26$ years and proposals for next-generation experiments with half-life sensitivity of $10^28$ years. Of personal interest is the possibility of observing the $Ba^136$ daughter of one $Xe^136$ 0nbb decay using single atom or single molecule imaging, which may allow even higher sensitivity to be achieved. [Preview Abstract] |
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